Ballast conveyer and leveler.



Patented Ian. 7, I902. G. F. SPUHLIN. I I BALLAST CONVEYER AND LEVELER.

(Application mod Aug. 97, 1901.)

(No Mollql.)

A TTOHNEYS WITNESSES m: nouns PETERS 00.. FHOTO-LITKQ, WASHINGTON n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GREEN FRANKLIN .sPURLIn, or CAMDEN, ALABAMA.

BALLAST CONVEYER AND. LEVELE'R.

PECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,788, dated January 7, 1902.

' Application filed August 27,1901. Serial No. 73,446. (No model.)

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, GREEN FRANKLIN SPUR- LIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Camden, in the county of Wilcox and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved Ballast Oonveyer and Leveler, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to means fortransferring sand and other material known as ballast from cars on a railroad-track to said track for filling in between cross-ties and also for leveling the filling materiahso as to com- 'side thereof to the road-bed between the track-rails, a further object being to provide a ballast levelin g device which coacts with the conveyer to complete the ballasting of the road-bed at one operation.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to'the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side view of the improvements upon and connected with a platform-car. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view'substantially on the line 8 3 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a novel leveling device employed.

In the drawings showing the features of the I extends the entire length of the car-platform 5 and has end walls G bent thereon. Each guide-wall 6 is rockably secured upona side edge of the car-platform by the strong hinges 7, 5 5 that are seen red upon the car and guide-wall, as is indicated in Fig. 3. The hinges 7 are so formed and secured in place that they serve to space the upper edge of each guide-wall 6 from a respective side edge of the car-plat form 5*, as shown at G in Figs. 2 and 3. As represented in Fig. 3, the guide-walls 6 are bent to curve them similarly downward and inward, so as to provide a downwardly-sloped lower portion on'each guide-wall, which por tions have contact at their lower edges when said walls are adj nsted as shown in Fig. 3, the portions of the guide-walls which occupy the space between the car-trucks 5 being considerably lo'wer' where they have contact than longitudinal center,which affords a dischargeslot 9 when the other portions of the lower edges of the guide-walls are caused to impinge upon each other by lowering the guidewalls.

When it is desired to keep the guide-walls secured together at their lower edges, two strong hasps 10 are employed, that are loosely secured by one end of each upon one guidewall near a respective end of the notch therel in, the other end of the hasp being shackled upon two staples 11, that project from the other guide-wall, as represented in Figs. 2 and 3.

The bottom of the chute provided for discharging filling material from the car-platform to the middle of the railroad-track by the lowered adjustment of the two similar guide-walls 6 slopes from the sides toward the discharge-slot 9 and also from the ends of said Ioo walls, so that sand, gravel,or fine broken stone carried as a load upon the platform 5 may be transferred from the car to the center of the road-bed by shoveling the material from the car into the opening (5 along each side of the car-platform or by the unloading-plow pulled by steam in front, which pushes sand off of the car.

The leveling device consists of a substantially triangular drag or spreader 12, having an upright front wall bent to produce sides which equally diverge from the preferablyrounded end a at the center of said wall, the wings or sides being held in position by the brace-piece 13, that may be formed of wooden plank or other suitable material. The drag may with advantage have a width at the rear end sufficient to permit it to travel on the inner base-flange of the track-rails A, as indicated in Fig. 2, when the device is arranged for service and on the outside of the rails on the ends of the cross-ties.

From the rear end of the car-platform or car-frame an arm 14 projects downwardly, and upon the lower end of said arm a draftbar 15 is jointed, the opposite or rear end of the draft-bar being pivoted upon a projection from the end a of the drag 12.

It will be seen that as the car having the ballast-conveyer on it is moved along the railroad-track and the material on the carplatform is shoveled or pushed from the sides of the platform into the openings 6 the filling material which is discharged from the slot 9 upon the road-bed at its center in a ridge will as the car is moved be impinged upon endwise by the drag 12, which will obviously spread the filling material evenly upon the road-bed and fill all spaces between the cross-ties of the same, between rails, and on the outside of rails.

When the device is not needed for service, it may be removed from below the platform of the car by releasing the hasps 10, which will permit the guide-walls 6 to be rocked sidewise and upward into position above the platform, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and be supported in such elevated adjustment by any suitable means.

It will be seen that by using the improvements a great saving of labor and time is effected and, furthermore, that the device for transference of material from the car to the road-bed is inexpensive, does not require any changes in the construction of the car, and is adapted for appliance upon cars now in use, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a ballast-conveyer, the combination with a car-platform,of guide-walls held spaced at the sides of said platform, and curved to extend under the platform between the cartrucks, the meeting lowercdges of the guidewalls being notched, to provide a dischargeslot for material moved from the platform into openings at the sides of the platform where the guide-walls are spaced from the platform.

2. In a ballast-conveyer, the combination with a car havinga platform and trucks near the ends of said platform, of guide walls formed of plate metal, each guide-wall having hinged connection with a side edge of the platform, and spaced therefrom by members of the hinges and also by strut-braces projecting from the guide-walls toward the sides of the car-frame, each guidewall curving downwardly and inwardly to provide sloped portions thereon, the lower edges of which portions impinge upon each other, said edges near the longitudinal center of the guidewalls being notched to form a discharge-slot for material passing down over the sloped surfaces of the guide-walls, and means for holding the lower edges of the guide-plates together.

In a ballast-conveyer and leveling device, the combination with a car and a conveying device on said car, comprising two curved and hinged guide-plates adapted to guide material thrown thereon and to discharge it on a road-bed from an opening at the lower edges of said guide-plates, of a leveling device in triangular form, connected to the car rearward of the conveyer device.

4. The combination with a car, and a ballast-distributing device thereon, of a ballastleveling device, comprising a drag formed with a substantially V-shaped upright wall, the sides of which are spaced bya transverse brace, an arm depending from an end of the car, and a draft-bar pivoted by one end on the arm and by the other end on the narrow end of the drag.

5. The combination with a car-platform, of guide-walls held spaced at the sides of the platform and extending under it, having a discharge-opening at their lower edges.

6. The combination with a car-platform, of guide-walls held spaced at the sides of the platform, extending under it, having a discharge opening at their lower edges, and means to hold said edges detachably secured together.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GREEN FRANKLIN SPURLIN.

\Vitnesses:

JNO. S. HUNTER, JOHN MCLEAN. 

